The Ducks traded their leading minor-league scorer Sasha Pastujov to the Montreal Canadiens on Monday in exchange for forward Sean Farrell.
Pastujov, a winger who just turned 23, led the San Diego Gulls in points last season with 57 in 71 appearances, trailing only veteran Justin Bailey for tops on the team in goals. Pastujov was also the Gulls’ most prolific producer on a per-game basis the year prior, accumulating 45 points in just 43 contests.
Yet success at the American Hockey League level did not translate to an opportunity with the parent club, and Pastujov was an unsigned restricted free agent as of the moment of the trade.
That was also the case for Farrell, 24, who has a similar profile as a savvy playmaker and imaginative chance-creator. He has shown promise at various levels of competition but lacks ideal size at 5-foot-9 and around 180 pounds.
The Harvard alumnus burst out with 53 points in 34 games during his final campaign with the Crimson, after which he skated in six matches for the Habs and scored his first NHL goal.
A year earlier, Farrell represented the U.S. at the 2022 Olympics. In Beijing, he had six points in four games, most of which came during a five-point explosion against host China in which Farrell netted a hat trick during his Olympic debut. He then joined Team USA once more for the World Championships in Finland that spring, reprising his role the following year.
At the USHL level, Farrell won a scoring title and player of the year award, as well as a Clark Cup championship. He medaled at both the U17 and U18 World Juniors.
He has spent the past three campaigns exclusively with Montreal’s AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket. Last season his output was similar to that of Pastujov, producing 53 points in 72 games, the third highest total for Laval.